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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27141796">Kageyama, Fight!</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeeklyHuffleNerd/pseuds/WeeklyHuffleNerd'>WeeklyHuffleNerd</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Haikyuu!!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Angst, But have you heard of Big Brother Suga?, Canon Compliant, Character Study, Crying, Dreams and Nightmares, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Hinata Shouyou and Kageyama Tobio Fight, Hopeful Ending, Hurt/Comfort, Kageyama Tobio &amp; Yachi Hitoka Friendship, Kageyama Tobio Angst, Kageyama Tobio Being an Idiot, Kageyama Tobio Needs a Hug, Kageyama Tobio is Bad at Feelings, Kageyama Tobio is Emotionally Constipated, Kageyama Tobio-centric, Kinda, M/M, Mental Breakdown, Minor Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi, Pining, Team Mom Sugawara Koushi, Tokyo Training Camp Arc (Haikyuu), Yachi supremacy, You've heard of Mom Suga, haisute references because those plays live in my head rent-free</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-10-22</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-04-27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-06 21:14:59</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>7</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>10,054</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27141796</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeeklyHuffleNerd/pseuds/WeeklyHuffleNerd</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Tobio’s fucked. Completely and utterly screwed. He can’t sleep, he’s distracted, and he’s stuttering while he’s talking even if he shouldn’t, because really, it’s ridiculous. Nevertheless, Tobio wants to scream when Suga-san takes him aside at practice and diagnoses him with a crush, of all things.</p><p> </p><p>Or, Kageyama Tobio has a crush, has a fight, has a shit ton of feelings and tries his best.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hinata Shouyou &amp; Kageyama Tobio, Hinata Shouyou/Kageyama Tobio, Kageyama Tobio &amp; Sugawara Koushi, Kageyama Tobio &amp; Yachi Hitoka, Sawamura Daichi/Sugawara Koushi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>39</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>208</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Fucks, Feelings and a Very Stupid Study Session</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>I wanna thank my friends for enduring my endless rambles on this and also for Beta reading!!! Enjoy the fic!</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tobio’s fucked. Completely and utterly screwed. He can’t sleep, he’s distracted, and he’s stuttering while he’s talking even if he shouldn’t, because </span>
  <em>
    <span>really</span>
  </em>
  <span>, it’s ridiculous. Nevertheless, Tobio wants to scream when Suga-san takes him aside at practice and diagnoses him with </span>
  <em>
    <span>a crush, </span>
  </em>
  <span>of all things. (He maybe does scream a little into his pillow that night.) The worst thing is, he knew, he really did. He’s not as stupid as Hinata tells him he is, and even though he’s never had to deal with feelings like this before, he’s hung around Oikawa enough to know what crushes feel like. It just took him the input of someone else to get his head out of his ass and admit it’s true, but could you blame him? After all, out of all the people he could have a crush on, his heart just </span>
  <em>
    <span>had</span>
  </em>
  <span> to settle on Hinata.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Stupid Hinata, with his stupid bright smile and stupid big eyes and stupid cool jumps and stupid endless energy. The idiot he had loathed the first few days they knew each other, before realizing that hey, he’s not so bad, and actually pretty fun when he’s not yelling at him for being an asshole. (And means it, that is. Nowadays, when Hinata calls Tobio an asshole Tobio knows he’s just teasing, mostly because Hinata starts laughing seconds later, while running away, fearing Tobio’s wrath. As he should.) </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>And now he has a big fat crush on the boy. He’s barely even </span>
  <em>
    <span>friends</span>
  </em>
  <span> with Hinata. Well, Hinata’s the closest friend he’s ever had, but that might just show him how pathetic Tobio is at making friends. And then his heart thought, </span>
  <em>
    <span>ah yes, let’s ruin this friendship by making one pine after the other.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio’s sure that if Hinata knew, he’d hate him. Why wouldn’t he? Although Hinata doesn't seem to be the kind of person to hate people for having a crush on them, but still, it would at least be too awkward to remain friends. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So he keeps it to himself. The less people who know, the less he has to deal with it. Even if Hinata is on his mind 24/7, because Tobio thinks about volleyball all the time, and at this point Tobio can’t think of volleyball without thinking about Hinata. Miwa has told him to </span>
  <em>
    <span>get a hobby that isn’t volleyball, Tobio, </span>
  </em>
  <span>and even if he wouldn’t mind distracting himself from Hinata and volleyball and </span>
  <em>
    <span>feelings</span>
  </em>
  <span>, there’s only so much time he can spend on hobbies without ruining his grades, and volleyball takes up all that time. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe Tobio should get some more friends, to keep himself from spending time exclusively with his team, and Hinata in general. But then they have a training camp in Tokyo, and they spend their time with Nekoma, and Hinata instantly befriends their setter, and Tobio is painfully reminded of his inability to socialize. It’s only because of Hinata that they’re friends, after all. And he can’t easily become friends with people in his team, too, because Tsukishima is a prick and Yamaguchi is always around Tsukishima and the rest is older and that’s too awkward for Tobio to deal with. The only person he thinks he could actually befriend is Sugawara, but he’s always around Sawamura and Azumane, and he’ll be away in a year anyways. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Ugh. Why are feelings so hard? He wants to groan loudly, but he can’t because Yachi is kindly explaining English to him, so he stares at the big English book he wants to use to smash into his skull in an attempt to get rid of his feelings. Yachi stops talking, only to ask Tobio “Kageyama? Are you alright? You’re making a face.” This time Tobio </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> groan, and lets his head fall onto the English book. “Oh” Yachi responds. Shit. Now Tobio feels bad. Everything just sucks and English is simply </span>
  <em>
    <span>impossible</span>
  </em>
  <span> but Yachi tries to help, so Tobio has to try to accept her help. “Sorry,” he mumbles, with his face still in the book. “It’s alright,” Yachi responds, because she’s too sweet and doesn’t understand half of the crap Tobio goes through. “I just-” Tobio begins, before realizing that he might need to sort out his thoughts before he can actually try to study English again. “Can we take a break?”</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yachi understands, she tells him, because English is pretty hard if you aren’t really good at it in the first place. She makes tea (God bless her) while Tobio thinks about a way to tell her about his thoughts. Does he simply tell her he can’t focus because he’s thinking about other things? Or maybe he can tell her about the friendship problem he doesn’t want to tell Hinata about. Or maybe just tell her about the whole Hinata/crush problem itself. Hinata isn’t at the study session because he had to babysit his little sister last-minute, which, while making everything just a little bit more awkward with Yachi, is great for his concentration. At least, until now. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>does</span>
  </em>
  <span> want to tell Yachi, because she seems sweet, and maybe, if Tobio manages to actually befriend Yachi, then the friendship problem is also fixed. He just doesn’t want to bother her with all the shit going on in his head, because feelings are difficult enough to deal with, and Yachi surely has better things to worry about than Kageyama Tobio’s feelings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio opens his mouth to tell Yachi why he’s having trouble focussing, something about having a lot on his mind, but somehow his brain doesn’t cooperate and instead he hears himself say “I have a crush on Hinata.” Fuck. Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck. He wasn’t supposed to say that. He’s never actually said that </span>
  <em>
    <span>out loud.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Yes, maybe others knew, but he’s never told anyone. Especially not someone he barely knows, like Yachi. What the hell, brain? “Oh” Yachi says again, handing Tobio a cup. “So that’s why you’re not paying attention when Hinata is here.” How is she so cool about it??? And she’s right, too. “Yeah,” he says.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Well, there’s no taking all that back, so Tobio simply tells Yachi everything. About how he has had a crush since that stupid practice match against Seijoh way back in april and about how Suga-san knows but has never said anything and about his struggles to make friends on his own because Hinata always did it for him. Yachi nods, listens while Tobio rambles on about thoughts he’d never think he’d say out loud or he never even realized he had until he’d said them out loud. And when he’s done with everything, he just drinks his lukewarm tea. Yachi puts her cup down, seemingly still thinking about what Tobio said. Or maybe she’s just thinking about how she can respond to that cluster-fuck of feelings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Thank you for telling me,” Yachi tells Tobio after a few more seconds. She smiles softly at him, and Tobio feels relieved, albeit confused. “You’re not mad?” Tobio can’t really think of a reason why she would be mad, but he certainly doesn’t know why the hell she’s being so nice about it. Yachi just laughs, before shaking her head. “Why would I be mad at you for having feelings? And I don’t mind. You can always talk to me about it!” She sends him a big smile. “And just so you know, I can totally see why you’d have a crush on Hinata.” She flushes. Tobio has to turn away so Yachi won’t see him blushing too. Hinata is just… his energy draws people in. Tobio’s pretty sure he’s heard girls talking about Hinata before. He’s never heard anything good about him before, though.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio finishes his tea, which has almost gone cold when he drinks the last sip. Yachi collects the cups and opens the English book again, this time a little quieter than before. She goes over everything Tobio missed earlier in their session, which is, well… everything. He just had a lot to think about, okay? Talking with Yachi had certainly helped. He can finally focus on English, and even if it makes no sense, it makes more sense than his feelings. Knowing that he’s not alone with these thoughts certainly helps too. He doesn’t have to focus on the feelings because he found words for whatever the fuck is going on in his head and he’s not the only one who knows about it. And when they’re done and Yachi waves him goodbye, Tobio goes home with two friends instead of one.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Come vibe with me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. Fight the Tears!</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tobio and Hinata fight and Suga is an actual angel.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Hooooo boi. Here it is. The angst you've all been waiting for. (Or maybe not. I don't know.) I'd like to thank my friend again for Beta reading!</p><p>[This chapter has a lot of crying, a minor mental breakdown and a shit ton of feels. Be warned]</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Training camp sucks, in his opinion. Sure, it’s good practice, Hinata only hangs out with those Nekoma guys, leaving Tobio behind. Not only that, Hinata has apparently gotten some stupid idea in his head of doing his own thing, and he almost injures Asahi trying to spike a ball that’s not his. Tobio scolds Hinata, because he’s not stupid, and he knows Hinata wasn’t just getting carried away like the boy said. No, instead he’s trying to do his own stupid thing, and he says he wants to hit their super-quick with his eyes open, but Tobio knows he can’t, because he knows Hinata, knows the boy will get distracted the ball and miss. So he does what he does best, and tells Hinata the truth, that he won’t toss to someone who will definitely miss. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He said the exact same thing when they first met, when Hinata was still the bane of Tobio’s existence.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Maybe Tobio feels a little bit like an asshole saying that. It’s true, but from the look of Hinata’s eyes, Hinata remembers the hatred they had for each other when they first met and Tobio wishes he wouldn’t, because Tobio was an asshole back then, and he’s trying to be better now. Suga-san agrees with Tobio, and coach does too, so now Tobio’s for certain that Hinata’s the crazy one, and for the rest of the day the team feels out of balance. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata selfishly wants to do his own thing, tearing the team apart in his attempts to evolve. They can’t properly do their quick, because Hinata doesn’t jump his highest and no matter how many times Tobio sets to Hinata, Hinata misses. Hinata keeps demanding sets, and it frustrates Tobio. Why can’t he see he’s perfect already? The quick would work way better if Hinata simply trusted him. But he doesn’t. So Tobio stops. There’s no point in trying something if it won’t be better than what they already have. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Right?</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Turns out, Hinata doesn’t think that. No, apparently Hinata only thinks about himself, and he fucking </span>
  <em>
    <span>tackles</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio when Tobio calls Hinata out on his egotistical behavior. Suddenly all of Tobio’s feelings disappear until Tobio’s just left with anger, because fuck Hinata and his stupid fucking idea because can’t he see he’s being stupid? Every good thing Tobio has ever thought about Hinata leaves his brain until he’s left with pent-up frustration and annoyance and suddenly it feels like he’s back in middle school and just finished crushing a totally hopeless team with a very annoying captain. Sweet, pretty, enthusiastic Hinata suddenly turns into selfish, overachieving Hinata as Tobio pushes Hinata because he just won’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>get off-</span>
  </em>
  
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>His attempts to get Hinata to let go of him end with a fist to his face, Tanaka-san’s fist, because apparently Yachi had run to get help once they started fighting and </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh god</span>
  </em>
  <span>, poor Yachi. She looks so upset. Tanaka-san is yelling at them for fighting, while also apologizing for punching them. Hinata just grabs his things and walks out the door. Asshole. Yachi gives Tobio a weak smile before following Hinata out the door. Ugh. Tobio kicks a volleyball, hard, before sitting down. He rests his forehead on his knees as he tries to fight the tears pricking behind his eyelids.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tanaka-san is still yelling, Tobio’s not sure about what, but he doesn’t have the time to listen and figure out because suddenly Tanaka-san isn’t yelling anymore, he’s talking to another voice, someone who sounds familiar and friendly, probably explaining what happened. The owner of the voice is moving over to him before Tobio feels warm arms wrap around him and pull him into a hug. His head falls onto a warm chest and there’s that voice again and </span>
  <em>
    <span>oh, that’s Suga-san.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio lets himself relax into the hug and suddenly Tobio is too tired to care, to keep the tears from falling down his face. He’s getting Suga-san’s shirt all wet and gross, he knows, but Tobio can’t bring himself to care because everything hurts even more than when his team abandoned him back in middle school, because he was never really friends with them in the first place, and he deserved to be abandoned back then, but now he’s lost his first real friend, and it’s not even his fault.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>There’s a hand stroking Tobio’s hair, he notices. Probably Suga-san. Who’s still talking to him. Shit. Tobio can hear him, but he can’t catch what he’s saying, and fuck, maybe he should focus on that instead of having a breakdown in the fucking gym. “...you, okay?” He hears that, good. “Kageyama?” That’s his name. Tobio nods. “Thank god,” Suga-san mumbles. “Breathe, okay? I need you to say five things you see around you, okay?” Five things. Tobio looks around him. He sees the net, volleyballs, the volleyball cart, his bag, the exit sign above the door. Suga-san nods. “Thank you. Can you tell me four things you can touch, please?” He can do that. Suga-san’s hand in his hair, his shirt, Suga-san’s shirt, the floor. Suga-san asks for three things he can hear (Suga-san’s voice, Tobio’s breathing, the squeaking of Tanaka-san’s shoes on the gym floor), two things he can smell (sweat, the smell of volleyballs he’s so familiar with) and one thing he tastes (the vile taste in his mouth, god he’s thirsty).</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio’s head is finally clear, thank fuck, so he hugs Suga-san as tight as he can. “Thank you,” he tells Suga-san, even if it’s muffled in Suga-san’s shoulder. Suga-san laughs and tells him not to worry about it. “Are you feeling any better?” Tobio nods, head still buried in Suga-san’s shoulder. “I’m thirsty” he says after a while, when he finally feels confident enough to sit up without tears threatening to fall again. He rubs his eyes and notices, wow he’s tired, both from crying and from the emotionally tiring fight he had. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Good job, Hinata,</span>
  </em>
  <span> he thinks. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Now the team won’t recover any time soon. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Even if Tobio manages to train with Hinata, he doesn’t think he’d be able to properly set to the boy any time soon. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>God, his feelings are a mess. He feels shitty, shittier than he’s felt in a long time, even shittier than when they lost to Seijoh. The crush doesn’t help either. Suga-san knows, Tobio remembers. He’s never said it, but Suga-san came to him about it first, so he might know what to do. “Suga-san?” Suga-san looks up. He’s still by Tobio’s side, and Tanaka-san has joined him, holding Tobio’s water bottle. Tanaka-san looks really worried, even if he tries to hide it with a laugh. “Can we talk for a minute? It’s about Hinata.” Suga-san’s eyes widen. He helps Tobio up, tells Tanaka-san that they’re going to the club room for a bit, and asks Tanaka-san if he could</span>
  <em>
    <span> clean up, please? </span>
  </em>
  <span>Tanaka-san, still a little worried, and extremely scared of an angry Suga-san, simply nods, then smiles at Tobio and sends him a thumbs up, as if to say “good luck!” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Good luck with what,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio thinks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I know you know about my feelings for Hinata,” Tobio starts. Suga-san nods. “You want advice,” he says, before Tobio can continue. This time Tobio nods. “I... I don’t want to lose him,” he says. It may seem stupid, but even if Tobio’s crush on Hinata has only been a pain in his ass, he’d rather have that than going back to hating Hinata. Suga-san simply laughs. “You won’t.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>How does he know?</span>
  </em>
  <span> As if reading his thoughts, Suga-san continues. “Feelings like that won’t go so quickly. Hinata relies on you, even if he’s starting to become more independent.” Suga-san says it with so much confidence, Tobio almost believes it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Almost.</span>
  </em>
  <span> “Besides, every couple has a fight now and then.” Tobio opens his mouth to say they’re not a couple, </span>
  <em>
    <span>not yet</span>
  </em>
  <span>, but Suga-san continues. “Daichi and I-” Suga-san goes quiet. He rubs the back of his head and turns away and </span>
  <em>
    <span>is he blushing?</span>
  </em>
  <span> “I won’t tell,” Tobio tells Suga-san. Suga-san laughs again, still blushing a bit, and reaches over to tousle his hair.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio leaves the club room later, feeling lighter. Something warm blooms in Tobio’s chest when he realizes something. Karasuno cares for him. They care even when Tobio has just had the biggest fight in his life, they care even though they all know the team dynamic is gonna be completely different the next time they have practice. Despite the massive bruise on his cheek, his puffy eyes and everything that had happened between him and Hinata, Tobio feels happy. He always suspected Karasuno cared, but now he knows for sure, Karasuno cares more than Kitagawa Daiichi was ever able to.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>This chapter made one of my friends tear up lol. I would apologize but I got sad writing it as well, so that's my punishment, I guess.</p><p>Come vibe with me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The Agony of Loneliness and Doing Things you Don’t Like</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Tobio learns what it's like to be alone (again).</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>I am soooo sorry for the long wait, but school has been kicking my ass. I hope this chapter is worth the wait!!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tobio’s not so happy the next day, when he visits Lil’ Tykes Volleyball Class, and accidentally makes a kid cry. Is he really that scary? Or maybe he’s just glaring again. He can’t help it. He’s tired, his eyes are still a little swollen from crying the day before, and he’s generally not in a good mood. He’s not even sure what he’s hoping to learn at a kid’s volleyball club, and he doesn’t even get to find out what he </span>
  <em>
    <span>can</span>
  </em>
  <span> learn, before he comes across Oikawa picking his nephew up from his volleyball practice. Maybe Oikawa can help. He </span>
  <em>
    <span>is</span>
  </em>
  <span> a pretty good setter after all.</span>
  <em>
    <span> He’s the reason you’re such a good setter,</span>
  </em>
  <span> says a little voice that sounds an awful lot like Hinata.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>So he asks Oikawa for help. Or, at least, tries to, because Oikawa is a bitch and he won’t help. So he tries again, asks him for his help, </span>
  <em>
    <span>please,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and Oikawa only helps after taking a </span>
  <em>
    <span>fucking picture of him.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Oikawa is, to say it nicely, a bitch about it. The advice he gives Tobio is to stop being a stubborn asshole about it (he doesn’t actually say that, but it’s close enough), and it takes all of Tobio’s willpower to not cuss Oikawa out in front of his nephew. It’s not as if he didn’t appreciate the advice (he does, he really does, because he wants to change for his team, </span>
  <em>
    <span>for Hinata</span>
  </em>
  <span>), but the guy could’ve at least been a little less of an ass about it. It makes Tobio want to do the exact opposite, keep doing what he did before, even if that might make him turn into the tyrant he used to be.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Oikawa’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>right,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio realizes when he walks back to school. Hinata lacks the skill to improve if Tobio doesn’t help him using the best tosses he can. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When coach pitches his idea to improve, Tobio actually wants to listen. Coach Ukai is way nicer about it, first of all, but his idea isn’t even that bad. It’s just… difficult. Tobio needs to do a toss with the same speed and accuracy as his quick toss, only now does he need to use a whole other technique to do that. This means that he has to ignore every bit of muscle memory he already has in order to do a toss that’s specifically made for Hinata. Well, maybe not </span>
  <em>
    <span>just</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hinata, but it certainly feels like it.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio’s spending all of his time trying to nail that new toss, but it’s hard. He only has a week to get that toss right, and he has no way of knowing how well it’ll go once he’s actually playing a game. Besides, he has no way of knowing what kind of improvements Hinata is making. They’re not talking, not even during practice, and coach realizes this and doesn’t pair them off. It’s great, considering the fact that both Hinata and Tobio have the chance to improve on their own, but Tobio can’t help but miss Hinata’s endless enthusiasm during practise. It’s like volleyball stopped being fun without Hinata, which seems absurd, because volleyball is the one thing Tobio likes besides Hinata.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The problem with not talking to Hinata, Tobio realizes after a while, is that, besides Tobio not knowing what Hinata’s improvement is going to do with the team dynamic, Hinata is one of his only friends, aside from Yachi, but she’s friends with Hinata as well, and every time Tobio goes to sit with her during breaks, Hinata is already there, volleyball in hand, talking to Yachi with a big smile like Tobio missing from his life isn’t a problem at all. He spends half of his breaks in the gym, practicing the new toss instead of eating, just to avoid seeing Hinata and his stupid bright smile, as if the sun didn’t stop shining when they stopped talking. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>This goes on for a few days, until one day during lunch, Suga-san approaches him while he’s practicing instead of eating lunch, and invites Tobio over to sit with him and the other third-years. It’s awkward at first, but Daichi simply smiles when Suga drags Tobio over to sit next to him, and Asahi smiles weakly at Tobio when he starts joining them without Suga looking for him first. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Halfway through the week, with only a few days left before summer break officially starts and they go to Tokyo for a week-long training camp, Tobio expresses his concerns to the third-years. “I don’t know if doing this will help,” he tells them. “Even if the new quick works, I’m sure the other teams will just get used to it, just like they did before.”  Suga-san laughs at that, before ruffling Tobio’s hair. He instantly feels like a little kid. “You see, that’s where you’re wrong.” Suga-san exclaims. “There’s more to Karasuno than just the two of you.” He grins and nudges Sawamura-san’s side, like he wants Sawamura-san to say something. Sawamura-san gets the hint and starts explaining about a new attack they’ve been practicing, and Azumane-san joins in, telling Tobio about his jump serves, and the attack Noya-san has been practicing. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The summer break is approaching fast, and Tobio has barely improved his toss. He’s got the stopping part down, but he’s having trouble getting the ball where he wants it to be. It’s almost an hour after training, and Yachi’s throwing him balls. He hasn’t talked with her properly ever since his fight with Hinata. He still feels bad about that. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>After another bad toss, Tobio sighs. “You don’t have to stay late for me. I’ll close up, you go home.” He moves to collect the bottles he’s been trying to hit. “Oh, it’s okay!” Yachi smiles at him. “I’ll help. Mom’s not waiting for me tonight, she has a meeting, so it’s fine if I stay a bit longer.” She moves to put the balls into the kart. “I’m sorry,” Tobio blurts out. He’s been wanting to say that for a while now,  but never found the chance to do so. Yachi looks at him. “I’m sorry for worrying you. And for getting into that fight with Hinata. And for not talking with you.” He looks up at Yachi. She looks… surprised? Like she hadn’t expected his apology. “Don’t worry!” That catches him off-guard. Yachi’s looking at him with a big smile. “It’s not really your fault. I understand why you two fought.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio tells Yachi about his conflicting feelings on Hinata while they walk home. He tells her about how his crush is still there, and even though he’s mad at Hinata, he still misses him more than anything. Yachi tells him that Hinata has been acting more down lately, and how he goes silent whenever Tobio walks by. As they say goodbye at Yachi’s bus stop, Yachi turns to him. “Just promise me you two will talk again soon, okay?” Tobio doesn’t respond.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>- o -</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Kageyama, toss to me!” Hinata comes running up to Tobio and Tobio smiles. It’s absolutely exhausting in the summer heat, and even though the sun is setting, the heat is still lingering on the grassy hill Hinata is running up. Tobio catches the ball Hinata haphazardly throws at him, and starts to toss the ball at Hinata, who reacts with a series of spikes and receives. One ball goes up wrong and before Tobio can yell out that he’s got it, Hinata jumps up and catches it, colliding with Tobio. They both fall on the grass, before Hinata lets out a giggle and Tobio joins him with the laughter. Hinata turns to him from where he’s laying beside Tobio.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey,” he says. “Hey,” Tobio says back. Hinata smiles at him. He’s close, almost too close, closer than he’s ever been before. Tobio can see where there’s light freckles dusting Hinata’s cheeks from where he’s been out in the sun too much and he can almost count Hinata’s eyelashes. He’s got beautiful eyes. “I’m sorry,” Hinata says. He looks at Tobio with regret in his eyes, and something else. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Longing.</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio knows, because he’s feeling it too. “Me too,” Tobio responds. His mind is foggy and his lips feel numb. All he can think about is how Hinata’s in front of him, </span>
  <em>
    <span>so close,</span>
  </em>
  <span> and they’re finally talking to each other.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“I miss you,” Tobio says, because it’s true, Hinata’s in front of him but he misses him, misses him </span>
  <em>
    <span>so much,</span>
  </em>
  <span> more than he’s ever missed anyone. Hinata smiles. It’s bittersweet. “I miss you too.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio wakes up in the darkness, alone, and more miserable than ever. It’s still a few hours until his alarm goes off, so he attempts to go to sleep. Only after crying does Tobio feel tired enough to sleep, and when his alarm goes off, he still feels horrible. He almost skips school that day.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>You can clearly see me exploiting character dynamics lolll. Anyways Suga supremacy </p><p>Come vibe with me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p><p>Edit: This fic now has a <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/01g4WYH7ilvBheCEKkUKHS?si=1JG2CR2CRaKWC1M9aS-FCg">Spotify playlist!</a> The songs are in chronological order, including the things I haven't written yet, so have fun with that!</p><p>Edit: MY FRIEND MADE <a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/CKrQsCdAgfu/?igshid=2uwcexceelts">ART!!!!</a> GO CHECK IT OUT!!!!</p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. Avoiding Socialisation is A Good Reason for being Lonely</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Summer camp has officially started, and Tobio tries to deal with his feelings (he fails)</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Ah yes, some good ol' angst. I hope you guys enjoy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>Tobio feels horribly underprepared as he steps on the bus that saturday. The new toss is nowhere near good, and this is the first time Tobio will be forced to interact with Hinata in a week. There’s no way he can avoid Hinata when they’re trapped in a single bus for 5 hours, and even if he sits somewhere else, Hinata’s talking will definitely catch Tobio’s attention. Besides, Tobio’s used to sitting next to Hinata on the bus. Everyone sits next to someone else, and Tobio will probably end up sitting alone, or will have to deal with sitting next to Hinata while trying to stay mad at him. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>That last part is becoming harder and harder for Tobio. He’s still angry at Hinata for doing what he did, but there’s an empty feeling in Tobio’s chest whenever he sees Hinata talk to someone else, and he knows he can’t casually talk to Hinata like they did before, but he misses it. There’s no need to dwell on that though. Suga-san had told Tobio there’s no way they won’t make up, and Tobio believes it as well, because if this argument goes on for too long, not only will the entire team dynamic be destroyed, but Tobio might also just break the silence himself, despite the annoying voice at the back of his head that keeps telling him that he doesn’t </span>
  <em>
    <span>need</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hinata’s attention. He knows by now that that voice is wrong, anyways. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>From his place on the bus, Tobio can see Hinata run up to the bus. He’s late, later than usual, but half of the team is still standing outside the bus talking to each other. Only Tsukishima and Yamaguchi are already sitting on the bus, but that’s mostly because Tsukishima declared he didn’t want to hear anyone talk this early in the morning, and Yamaguchi followed him on the bus, because that’s just how the two of them work. Tsukishima’s a prick, Yamaguchi follows. Takeda-sensei shoo’s everyone into the bus after a few minutes, and everyone slowly picks a seat on the bus. Tobio sighs with relief when he sees Hinata sitting down next to Yachi, but then the loneliness settles in his stomach, as he realises that he’ll probably be sitting alone on a 5 hour bus trip.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s proven wrong, though, when he looks at the seat next to him, and finds Shimizu-san sitting there. She smiles at him. “You don’t mind if I sit here, right?” Tobio shakes his head. He appreciates that Shimizu-san tries to start a conversation with him, but it’s way too early for any kind of social interaction, so Tobio leans his head back and closes his eyes, trying to catch some sleep. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He dreams of Hinata again. This time it’s vague, because his dream keeps being interrupted by laughter or shouts or any other kind of commotion you’d expect on a high school bus trip. He dreams of sunlight, of tossing a ball, of Hinata hitting the ball and smiling at him. Of them cheering, Hinata laughing, running up to him and almost throwing Tobio off-balance while hugging him. Tobio looks down at Hinata’s smiling face, and Hinata’s looking up at him, and Tobio’s sure they’re gonna kiss, but loud laughter interrupts them and the scene changes. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s raining. Really hard. They’re in a gymnasium. It looks like the one in Tokyo they had been before, but there’s something that seems like Karasuno’s familiar gym. It’s still pouring, the rain hitting the roof and filling the building with a rushing sound. It’s dark too, and it feels too familiar to when Tobio fought with Hinata, except he feels at peace instead of agitated. He’s practicing his tosses on his own. None of them are hitting any of the bottles. This sucks.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Can I hit the next one?” Tobio turns, and sees Hinata standing in the doorway. He’s drenched. “Not until you’re all dry.” Tobio answers. He really wants to get this right, and Hinata attempting to hit the tosses will only throw him off. Hinata stomps over to the side and jumps on a too tall ledge. His feet dangle off the edge. Tobio continues trying to toss, but it’s not working. He’s distracted, for fucks sake. “I’m bored,” Hinata whines. That’s it. Tobio’s giving up. This isn’t working. He walks over to Hinata. “Well, I’m giving up. Let’s just go.” He’s standing in front of Hinata now, and he has to look up to look at his face. “I just got here though,” he mumbles. “That’s too bad,” Tobio responds quietly. Hinata’s close now. He can feel his breath on his lips. He can see the water droplets falling from Hinata’s hair onto his face, and as Hinata leans in, he feels them on his face as well. Their lips touch, but then Tobio’s eyes open and he’s in the bus again, with Shimizu-san next to him and Tanaka-san and Noya-san yelling loudly in the back. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It takes everything in Tobio not to cry right then and there. He’s tired of avoiding Hinata. He’s tired of not talking to him all day. Instead, he rubs his eyes and stretches. “Good morning Kageyama-kun,” Suga-san tells him. Since when is he here? “Kiyoko and I switched seats a bit ago. You were out for a good two hours.” Oh. The rest of the trip consists of Suga-san talking to Tobio, Tobio tiredly talking back, and Suga-san scolding the others when they’re being too loud. Before Tobio even knows it, they’ve arrived in Saitama. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata runs off the bus to greet the others almost immediately. Tobio tries his best to stay on the bus as long as possible, and reluctantly follows the group as they’re brought to their rooms. It’s a different location than last time, Tobio notices. Well, there goes his hope of being familiar with at least something in this godforsaken camp. The captains greet each other, there’s a lot of yelling as the Nekoma ace and Tanaka-san spot each other, and the other schools greet them as well. Before long, everyone’s ushered into the gymnasium, and they’re all doing warmups before starting their practice matches. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The team does, in all honesty, shit. Tobio’s toss falls short, nothing the others have practiced works, and Fukurodani beats them to pulp. Hinata surprisingly saves the ball when Tobio’s second toss goes too far, but nothing else works. They have to run up the hill as penalty, and the rest of the day they watch other matches. Sugawara-san proposes they all practice the synchronized attack, and Tobio obliges, before leaving to practice on his own. He spots Hinata laughing with some Nekoma people, but pays them no mind. Stupid Hinata and his stupid ability to befriend everyone. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The only gym where Tobio can practice his tosses is where coach is discussing something with the Nekoma coach. He greets Tobio, and offers to throw Tobio balls while he practices. Tobio’s tosses slowly get better, but not good enough, and most of the balls don’t hit the bottle, even if it’s a close call. It’s quiet outside, aside from the noises the bugs make outside, and there’s nothing keeping his thoughts in check. Another toss misses. Tobio swears. Coach encourages him, but there’s not much to be done. One more toss. Almost there, but not quite. Fuck. Why is he even here? He hates socializing. Hinata’s not even talking to him anyways, and the team’s a mess right now. One more mess isn’t needed. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Another ball falls short and Tobio breaks. Fuck summer camp and fuck socialisation. It’s all overwhelming, because </span>
  <em>
    <span>of course</span>
  </em>
  <span> Hinata would be able to get along with everyone, and they had a stupid fight and Hinata hates his guts now and Tobio’s all alone because making friends is </span>
  <em>
    <span>impossible</span>
  </em>
  <span> and he’s trying to get better for Hinata but it’s </span>
  <em>
    <span>too damn hard </span>
  </em>
  <span>and he just wants to cry. And then he does. He breaks down after the ball misses the stupid bottle again, not even close to hitting it, and everything hits him all at once and suddenly he’s on the floor sobbing because </span>
  <em>
    <span>dammit</span>
  </em>
  <span>, he misses Hinata. He doesn’t even realize he’s crying in front of coach and Takeda-sensei until he hears sensei say something about getting some water and coach wraps him into a hug and lets Tobio cry his eyes out into his shoulder.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He goes to bed with tear stained cheeks. Suga-san hugs him as soon as he sees Tobio’s face, but it doesn’t help much with the dull ache in his chest. He sleeps badly, but at least he doesn’t dream.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I promise the fluff will come soon. Just,,, wait a minute. Also sorry for the inconsistent schedule, I'll try to post more :)</p><p>Come vibe with me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Being Called Out is only Fun when Your Crush does It</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They talk again. Something changes</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Finally, the angst has ended. Sort of.</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The new toss officially sucks, Tobio decides, when another one goes short and Hinata misses it again. They haven’t won any of the practice matches since the summer camp has started, and the week is almost over. Almost every toss he sends is somewhere he didn’t intend it to be, and Hinata has barely hit any of his tosses. So when Hinata hits the toss he sent for him, he feels relieved. Hinata turns to him and Tobio expects him to be glad that he hit the toss, but instead Hinata looks angry. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Hey! Why’d you hold back?” Hinata’s shouting at him. What? “What do you mean?” He’d sent a toss to Hinata, he wasn’t holding back, right? “That toss you sent. It wasn’t the falling toss.” It… wasn’t? Was he subconsciously holding back? The toss had </span>
  <em>
    <span>felt </span>
  </em>
  <span>good, though Tobio supposes that all his tosses usually do. All except for the falling one. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Fuck.</span>
  </em>
  <span> So he </span>
  <em>
    <span>was</span>
  </em>
  <span> holding back. And Hinata was able to tell. The bastard. Hinata’s comment has brought the whole team into chaos, and everyone’s shouting, but Tobio can’t even pay attention to any of it. Instead, he’s thinking about what caused him to change the toss to his old one. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Don’t stop!” That’s Hinata yelling. Everyone falls quiet. Hinata’s looking at Tobio, right at him, the way he hasn’t done in weeks, with a light in his eye and something else Tobio can’t quite put his finger on. Sawamura-san has to pull them apart to continue playing the game, but Tobio can’t focus anymore. He was holding back, and Hinata was able to tell, and even though the tosses he’d been sending hadn’t properly worked with Hinata, Hinata still wanted him to continue using them. He just doesn’t understand Hinata. Isn’t Hinata frustrated that their quicks are failing too? Shouldn’t he be relieved that with Tobio’s toss, they managed to get a point in?</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t be using the falling toss with you anymore,” Tobio tells Hinata after the match. It’s the last match of the day, and they had to take another penalty. Before Hinata can protest, he continues. “I need to practice it more before I feel comfortable enough to use it.” Hinata’s face quickly changes from anger to something more thoughtful. “Okay. Wait, where are you going?” He follows Tobio as he leaves to go to a gym and practice. The others are practicing too, so Tobio leaves to practice somewhere else. “Practicing.” Hinata follows, and so does Yachi.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I won’t be practicing with you anymore,” he says as he’s setting up the bottles. “I want to be sure I can do the toss properly before we do it together.” He’s purposely not looking at Hinata. He doesn’t want to see him unhappy with the statement. “That’s considerate of you,” Hinata mumbles. “Hurry up already! I wanna hit that quick!” He shouts. He sounds agitated. “I will!” Tobio shouts back. It’s so easy to forget they haven’t properly talked in a few weeks when he’s talking to Hinata again. They’re bickering like nothing happened. It’s like that one toss flipped a switch in Hinata and that Hinata decided volleyball was more important than a petty fight. Tobio’s glad. “I’m excited to see that new quick,” Yachi tells them as Hinata’s walking out to find someone to toss for him. “Me too,” they both tell her. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Yachi sends him balls, and coach joins to help him after a while too. Despite the feelings that everything’s different, it’s still not working. It’s frustrating, but all the anger he felt and the feelings of helplessness from last time are gone. He’s practicing, and it’s still going wrong, but now he can focus on what he’s doing, and his mind isn’t riddled with horrible thoughts from the fight. It’s like a massive weight has been lifted from him, though physically, nothing’s changed. It feels like it should be different now, but the only thing that’s changed is that he’s thinking clearer. It’s just him, trying to toss the ball correctly, and the sounds of the balls hitting the floor. No stupid thoughts, no crying. But also no sounds of the plastic bottles being hit by the ball. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You’re thinking of the bottles as targets,” coach tells him after a while of tosses missing. “Try to imagine a spiker as the target, instead of the bottles.” Hmm. That might help. He imagines a spiker (it’s Hinata. Of course it’s Hinata), picks a location, and tries again. It helps, somehow. He’s still missing, but way less now, and with each one he hits, Yachi cheers him on. He’s cheering too, on the inside. If this works out, he can play with Hinata again without that feeling of unease in his chest. But for now, he has to practice getting the toss where he needs it to be. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When they leave to go to bed, after coach has left because Nekoma’s coach had been persistent he’d drink with them, Yachi and Tobio chat. They exchange some </span>
  <em>
    <span>hi</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s and </span>
  <em>
    <span>how are you</span>
  </em>
  <span>’s, and they’ve been walking quietly, when Yachi talks. “You know, Hinata thinks highly of you.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>No, Tobio doesn’t know. </span>
  </em>
  <span>“What?” He looks at Yachi. She looks a little caught off guard, like she wasn’t expecting Tobio to react like that. Or maybe she didn’t mean saying what she said. “Well, earlier, when Hinata got mad, it wasn’t because you were doing it wrong,” she explains. “It was because he thinks you can do any toss, no matter how hard. You’re the best setter he knows.” Oh. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Wow. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Wow, that’s a lot of pressure. And a compliment. Somehow. At least, he thinks so.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>When his brain stops short-circuiting at the thought, he responds. “He does?” Yachi nods. “He missed you, too. He kept complaining about how the kids at Ukai’s place were bad at tossing, unlike you. I think that’s his way of saying he misses you.” If Tobio wasn’t red before, he sure is now. Hinata missed him? That’s… wow. He hadn’t even thought of that. In his brain, Hinata was only worried about getting better, not about the people he left behind. Maybe it was harsh of Tobio to think this, but it’s something he’s familiar with. Being left behind because he’s doing things wrong. Maybe that’s why the fight had hurt that much. Tobio had genuinely thought he was doing the right thing. Although, back at Kitagawa Daiichi he had thought that too, but now he recognizes he was wrong. He doesn’t even know what to say in response. “Oh,” he says instead. “I think I missed him too.” </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You two should talk about that, maybe.” Yachi is looking at him now. It almost feels like he’s being scolded. “Don’t try and ignore that you guys fought. I know Hinata will do that. He’s bad with stuff like that.” He knows they should talk. He wants to. But still… “But what if he won’t want to talk to me if I do? I can’t stop talking to Hinata. Not again.” His voice cracks as he says that, which makes it sound like he’s going to cry at the thought. He might, to be honest. Yachi just waves her hand, dismissing the thought. “If he does, I’ll just ignore him until he talks with you. We both know he hates being ignored,” she says with a laugh. And Tobio does. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I still think you two should talk,” Yachi says, and that’s that. Tobio sees Hinata again in the bathroom as they’re both brushing their teeth, and Hinata, with his mouth full of toothpaste tells him a barely comprehensible story about his practice, and Bokuto (he thinks) and also Tsukishima (he’s pretty sure he didn’t hear Hinata correctly with that though). Yachi’s words still bounce around in his head, but he chooses to ignore them and listen to Hinata instead. And when they spit out their toothpaste and Hinata continues talking and confirms that yes, he </span>
  <em>
    <span>did </span>
  </em>
  <span>hear Hinata mention Tsukishima, Tobio notices that he feels all warm inside, the way he used to when talking to Hinata. It feels like he’s standing in the sun, and it’s amplified by Hinata’s absence the few weeks earlier. Like the sun is shining after weeks of cloudy days. Maybe Hinata’s just like that. The feeling of sunshine. And even though it’s the middle of summer, and Tokyo’s way hotter than Miyagi, it’s the first time this week that Tobio truly feels warm.</span>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>I believe in Yachi supremacy. Anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed! </p><p>Come vibe with me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0006"><h2>6. The Only Thing that makes This Summer Camp Fun is BBQ (And Hinata)</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>The quick works, and Tobio talks to some people at the BBQ</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>This one's for Luka. You deserve the fluff after enduring my angst sweetheart ( ˘ ³˘)♥</p><p>Enjoy!!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>It’s the last day of summer camp, and the team has finally stabilized. Nishinoya-san finally managed to do that jumping toss he practiced so hard on, the synchronised attack isn’t a complete mess anymore, and overall, everyone’s in a great condition. The captain reveals that they’re gonna have a barbeque this evening, right before they’re about to start their last match, against Fukurodani, and everyone’s in a great mood, excited for the meal. Tobio is too. He feels better than he has all week, and everyone’s mood is influencing his own. When the match starts, he feels unstoppable.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He’s in tiptop shape. His stomach is light, like he hasn’t had breakfast, but he’s not hungry. He’s aware that he’s doing great. He’s also aware that the rest of the team is feeling the same. It would be the perfect moment for him and Hinata to do the new quick. Perfect, but… he doesn’t feel confident enough with his toss. Even if he’d been doing it better and better, it’s still not as stable as it could be, </span>
  <em>
    <span>should be,</span>
  </em>
  <span> so he doesn’t use it. When Hinata jumps up, ready for a quick, he goes to set normally, when… </span>
  <em>
    <span>“You’re not gonna do it?” </span>
  </em>
  <span>Hinata’s looking at him, eyes sharp and questioning. He didn’t even say it out loud, Tobio just knows. In a split second, he changes his toss from the normal one to the falling one. It shoots across the court, towards Hinata, and right before Hinata’s hand, it stops. Yes! Hinata’s hand slams against the ball, and they score a point. They did it!</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Hinata’s yelling, Tanaka-san’s yelling, and he’s yelling too. Holy shit, they did it. They did it, and it worked perfectly! And he didn’t even have to worry about the toss. It just went. He hesitated, but still followed through. All thanks to Hinata. Hinata, who’s now staring at Tobio like he hung the stars. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Damn it! I got pulled in by that guy again, </span>
  </em>
  <span>some part of his brain says, the part that’s always picking fights with Hinata just to see who wins, the part that wants Tobio to be independent, so he doesn’t fall as hard as he did in middle school. Still, when Tobio looks at Hinata, with stars in his eyes, and fully looking at Tobio, no one else, he can’t fault himself for letting Hinata pull him in. Hinata’s the sun, and Tobio orbits around him. Hinata’s smile is blinding, and Tobio can’t help but smile too.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>The victory is short lived, however, because they have to continue playing, and Fukurodani wins, even if it’s a close call. Still, the promise of BBQ is good enough to get the team motivated enough for their last penalty of the week. After they come back from the penalty, the smell of barbeque fills the air already. Tobio’s stomach rumbles, and soon enough, everyone is set loose to enjoy the meal. Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san have acquired a group of boys from multiple teams, and they’re now running around, vowing to protect Shimizu-san. Tobio’s almost sure that the only protection Shimizu-san needs, is to be protected from that group. He softly laughs at the thought, sitting down on the hill to enjoy his meal. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Enjoying the meal?” Suga-san asked. Tobio jumps. He hadn’t even noticed Suga-san sitting down next to him. “Yes, thank you,” he responds with his mouth full. “You did well today. I’m glad you and Hinata are getting along again.” Suga-san smiles at him. Tobio swallows his bite, and responds. “Me too. The synchronized attack went great. We’ll win from Seijoh next time, I’m sure.” He’s not sure, but the show of confidence is enough to make Suga-san smile at him, and ruffle his hair. Down the hill, Yachi screams, seemingly terrified of the taller volleyball players, who are offering her food. She runs away, terrified, and Suga-san waves in her direction. She spots them, and Tobio waves too, just to be polite. She runs over to them. </span>
  <span><br/>
<br/>
</span>
</p><p>
  <span>“Hi Yachi-kun!” Suga-san greets her. Tobio says hi too, though it sounds a little less enthusiastic. “I was just chatting with Kageyama-kun. Practice went great today, don’t you think?” Once again, Suga-san is the best in starting conversations. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I wish I could do that too,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio thinks, while biting into another onigiri. Yachi nods. “It went great! I don’t know that much about volleyball, but the team has improved a lot since last week.” Tobio nods. They have. Not only as individuals. Everyone’s been doing a great job supporting each other, aside from the individual improvement. At the start of last week, everyone was so busy with their own improvement, that the entire team was out of balance. Now, though, it feels like they’re unstoppable, even if they still lost the match. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Sawamura-san joins them too, and soon enough half the team is sitting on the hill. It’s getting late now, the sun is setting, and only the most energetic of people are still running around. Most people have joined them on the hill, watching the sun set. It’s peaceful, and even with Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san still yelling at the bottom of the hill, Tobio is at ease. The meat is gone, and everyone’s enjoying popsicles, and there’s nothing in his mind that’s nagging him. Except for having to talk to Hinata, but Hinata is still at the bottom of the hill, running around with Bokuto-san. For now, Tobio is simply enjoying the moment. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“Have you talked with Hinata-kun yet?” Yachi asks. She’s still sitting next to him, and Shimizu-san is sitting next to her, though she’s distracted, as she’s talking to Azumane-san. “Not yet,” Tobio responds. “I will, though.” She nods. “You did well today. You both did.” She’s smiling at him, and Tobio knows she means it. “I-...” Tobio doesn’t even know how to respond. He thinks back to the first proper conversation they had that wasn’t about studying. “I heard him, in my mind. I wasn’t gonna do the toss, but it was like he was challenging me, daring me to do it anyways. I’m glad I did.” On the left of him, Suga-san wails, and Sawamura-san is patting his back to comfort him. He’s holding an empty popsicle stick, and in the grass lay the remains of a sad, molten popsicle.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“He looked at me after that toss, and I just… it reminded me of why I fell for him in the first place.” Tobio says the last bit softly, so no one can hear but Yachi, but he’s sure no one’s paying attention to them anyways. “I couldn’t stand him ignoring me, but he looked at me like I was the most important person in existence. And I felt like that too. I want to feel like that, forever. To be the person Hinata adores most.” Yachi nods. “Tell him,” she says. And Tobio wants to, but he doesn’t have the nerves to do that. Hinata might hate him, and even if he doesn’t, Tobio doesn’t know if Hinata feels the same way. He was never able to understand him, least of all when it ‘s about feelings. He barely understands his own feelings.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I-... I’ll try.” Tobio tells Yachi, and it’s the truth. He rests his chin on his knees, and Yachi turns to Shimizu-san, who apparently asked her a question. On Tobio’s other side, Suga-san is no longer dramatically crying over his dead popsicle, but now enjoying another, probably to the expense of Sawamura-san, whose hands are now suspiciously empty. They look content though, and Sawamura-san’s looking at Suga-san like he’s the world. He remembers what Suga-san had said, way back when Tobio and Hinata had their fight. They’re keeping it a secret, as far as Tobio can tell, but now that Tobio knows about their relationship, he can’t help but see it. Suga-san catches him looking, and winks in return. Tobio smiles. Maybe telling Hinata won’t be so bad. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe.</span>
  </em>
</p><p><br/>
<span>Hinata runs up the hill, towards the team. “Kageyama, why do you look so angry?” That’s it. “Hey!” He eats the rest of his popsicle, and with the popsicle stick still in his mouth, he runs after Hinata. The chase soon turns into a race, and after the third time he’s running up the hill, Tobio gives up, and sits down. It’s not like him to give up on a race, but he’s tired, and the rules of the race aren’t even clear. Maybe he won by being the first person to stop running. Yeah, that’s what it is. Hinata is at the bottom of the hill again once he realises Tobio stopped, and runs back up the hill. “Why’d you stop?” “I’m tired.” Hinata sits down next to him. “Oh. Okay.” </span>
  <em>
    <span>Talk to him, </span>
  </em>
  <span>a voice in his head says. It sounds like Yachi. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Okay, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thinks back. </span>
  <em>
    <span>I will.</span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>If this isn't canon compliant no it is &lt;3. It's canon in Haisute, so that's good enough for me. Also if you see the haisute reference I will kiss you on the lips /p</p><p>Come vibe with me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
<a name="section0007"><h2>7. Talking is Hard, but At Least they can Look at Stars</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>They finally talk.</p>
          </blockquote><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>Whoo boy. Last chapter! I can't believe it's done after this. I hope y'all enjoy!</p><p>Big thanks to my friend Eildert for beta-reading and also hyping up this fic ever since I started writing it!</p></blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>The sky is dark now, and Tobio can almost see the stars. They’re not as present as back home, and Tobio supposes he misses it. </span>
  <em>
    <span>“Light pollution,”</span>
  </em>
  <span> Yachi-san had called it. They’re sitting in silence for a few seconds, before Hinata speaks up. “This was fun. I like playing volleyball with you. Those kids at Ukai’s place were horrible stetters,” he whines. Tobio nods. Yachi had said that too, but only now, when Hinata says it to his face, does Tobio fully understand what she meant. It means </span>
  <em>
    <span>“I miss you”, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he now knows. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“I like playing volleyball with you too,” Tobio says back, after a short while. Hinata smiles at him. Tobio takes a deep breath. Here goes nothing. “I missed playing with you. I-...” He looks at the sky again. The stars are there, still, but they’re harder to spot, and the sky still feels a lot emptier. He takes another shaky breath. “I missed you. In general. Aside from volleyball, and all that.” From the corner of his eye, he can see Hinata turn his head towards him, but he can’t find the courage to look at Hinata. Instead, he keeps staring at the stars. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“</span>
  <em>
    <span>Kageyama.</span>
  </em>
  <span>” It’s almost a whisper, but it makes Tobio look at Hinata. Hinata’s looking straight at Tobio, with the same look in his eyes as he does whenever he’s on the sidelines. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Want. </span>
  </em>
  <span>Just like in Tobio’s dream, Tobio realises. The urge to yell at Hinata, to tell him to stop staring, is there, in the back of Tobio’s brain, but Tobio ignores it. He doesn’t want to ruin the moment, even if that would save him from a very awkward conversation. Yachi is right, they need to talk about their fight, and this is the best time to do so. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio’s still thinking about the best way to start the conversation when Hinata beats him to it. “I’m sorry for ignoring you.” Hinata looks away from Tobio, almost ashamed. “I’m sorry for fighting you,” Tobio says back. “I’m not sorry for getting mad, though. I thought that we wouldn’t win against Seijoh with a half-developed quick, I still do. I just didn’t think you’d get so good so quickly.” Hinata nods. “I’m not sorry for getting mad, too. I just… I’m sorry for the fight too.” He looks back at Tobio. This time, instead of longing, Hinata’s looking at him with determination in his eyes. “Let’s not do that again,” he says with a smile on his face. Tobio makes a sound of agreement. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Tobio looks away from Hinata, to where the others are sitting. The Nekoma setter stops that tall middle blocker (his name was Lev, right?) from heading over to where Hinata and Tobio are sitting. Tobio looks back to Hinata, but he’s looking at the stars. “There’s way less stars here,” Hinata notes. Tobio hums in agreement. “Light pollution,” he says to himself. Hinata looks up at him. “There’s so much light coming from Tokyo that the stars are harder to see. Yachi told me.” “Whoa.” Tobio laughs at that. Of course Hinata would find something like that cool. “Hey,” Hinata yells at Tobio for laughing, but there’s no real bite to it. </span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“It feels empty,” Hinata says after a bit of silence. “The sky without as many stars. Like there’s something missing.” Hinata’s staring at the stars again. “It does.” Tobio rests his chin on his knees. He’s looking at Hinata again, but Hinata doesn’t notice. “I’m glad we’re going home tomorrow,” Hinata continues. “There’s no way I could live without the stars.” It’s such a stupid thing to say, but Tobio agrees. “Yeah.” It’d be so much lonelier without that light there. </span>
  <em>
    <span>It’d be so much lonier without Hinata there, </span>
  </em>
  <span>he thinks. Hinata looks at him and smiles. Tobio smiles back. “I’m glad you’re here,” Hinata says. “Me too,” Tobio says back.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Down the hill there’s shouting now, and Tobio spots several people with sparklers. Hinata notices them too, apparently, because he jumps up and grabs Tobio’s hand. “Come on!” Hinata practically drags Tobio down the hill, and Hinata runs off as soon as he spots Bokuto holding out several sparklers. He leaves Tobio standing at the bottom of the hill, and with nothing else to do, Tobio searches for Yachi.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>He finds her next to Shimizu-san, chatting. “Hey,” he says when he’s standing next to her. Yachi jumps, but settles as soon as she sees Tobio standing next to her. “We talked,” Tobio simply tells her. Yachi seems puzzled for a second, before realisation sets in, and she responds. “Oh, good! Did you tell him about… you know?” Tobio shakes his head at that. “Oh. You should though. But not now, if you’re not ready. I don’t want to pressure you or anything!” She’s waving her hands around frantically, and looks like she’s done something horribly wrong. “You’re right. I will,” Tobio tells her, partially to reassure her, partially because it’s true. He wants to tell Hinata, he just doesn’t know how and when. “But not now, not yet.” And that’s that.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Suga-san spots Tobio when Tobio walks away from Yachi, and hands him a sparkler. “You talked with Hinata, right?” Suga-san asks. Tobio nods. “How’d it go?” “It went well,” Tobio answers. “We talked about the fight and I told him that I missed him.” Suga-san nods. Tobio wants to tell Suga-san more, tell him about his feelings, about if telling Hinata about the feelings is a good idea, but he can’t say more before Tanaka-san and Nishinoya-san run up to Suga-san to whine about something Shimizu-san related. Tobio quickly leaves, not wanting to get caught up in whatever that is. Instead, he finds Hinata again, armed with sparklers, but no fire to light them with. Tobio walks up to him.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>“You know, I feel good about our new quick,” Hinata tells Tobio as soon as he notices that Tobio’s joined him. “Even if they catch up, we can still fight!” Tobio nods. “We still have to get better, though. The quick is still unstable,” he tells Hinata. “I know, but we’re getting better,” Hinata responds. “And even if there’s people better than us, that means all we can do is get better! And knowing that there’s so many people to beat makes me excited!” At his exclamation, a firework lights up. It’s almost to emphasize Hinata’s statement.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>Other fireworks join the first. Soon enough, fireworks colour the sky and light up everyone around him. They’re beautiful, and Hinata’s beautiful too, staring at the fireworks. Hinata’s moving closer to Tobio, almost leaning against Tobio, and Tobio moves Hinata’s way too. Hinata’s head is against his arm now, and Tobio notices that Hinata has finally gone still. He’s almost dozing off. Turns out Hinata gets tired too. He wraps his arm around Hinata, letting Hinata get comfortable, and looking at the fireworks, with no bad thoughts swirling in his brain, Tobio feels at peace.</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>- o -</span>
</p><p> </p><p>
  <span>It’s way too early when they all go on the bus the next morning. The sun hasn’t even risen yet, and only a few people of the other schools have bothered to wake up at such an ungodly hour to wave them goodbye. Hinata is somehow wide awake and is talking to Tobio non-stop, but Tobio’s only just awake enough to feel one thing, and it feels quite a lot like </span>
  <em>
    <span>fuck this shit.</span>
  </em>
  <span> This time, when they get on the bus, Tobio sits down next to Hinata, on their usual spot near the back. Takeda-sensei tells them something about the bus trip that Tobio doesn’t quite catch, and as soon as the bus starts moving, Tobio is fast asleep. </span>
</p><p><br/>
<span>When he wakes up, the sun is rising, and his head is leaning on Hinata’s. Hinata’s head is on his shoulder, completely still, so Tobio figures he’s asleep. Tobio shifts, and feels something strange in his hand. He looks down at his hand. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Oh. </span>
  </em>
  <span>In his hand, resting on the bus seat, is Hinata’s hand. Their fingers are intertwined, which they weren’t when Tobio fell asleep. Hinata, while Tobio was asleep, put his hand in his. </span>
  <em>
    <span>Maybe,</span>
  </em>
  <span> Tobio thinks, </span>
  <em>
    <span>everything will turn out just fine. </span>
  </em>
</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Notes for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
          <p>Thank you all for reading!!! I'm really happy with this fic, and though it's a little sad finishing it, I'm glad I can start on new fics and ideas! </p><p>Please leave a comment if you liked it, and don't hesitate to message me on my <a href="https://il-arts.tumblr.com/">Tumblr!</a></p><p>Also, if you enjoyed, this fic has a playlist on <a href="https://open.spotify.com/playlist/01g4WYH7ilvBheCEKkUKHS?si=1JG2CR2CRaKWC1M9aS-FCg">Spotify</a> and <a href="https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLTbIhyWwJsDz9vmDAnRV6fU2W81cDR495">YouTube!</a></p>
        </blockquote></div></div>
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